Roller Derby Back in Action This Saturday

Keep your eyes on the star. The 709 Roller Derby League is back this weekend for the start of their 2017 season.

This week on Web Trawler, Andrew Hawthorn sat down with a couple of the players to discuss the history of the upstart sport from punk origins in Texas to hard-hitting contact sport in St. John’s.

Ashley Critch, who plays under the name Bashley Banks, says derby attracts a lot of the “misfit toys” who wouldn’t necessarily play other team sports. She says she still can’t get over the effect the sport has on its players and fans.

Kids often come up to her after the game for autographs, but it was the first time she saw a complete stranger in the crowd holding a sign with her name on it that really surprised her.